Track LinkedIn Conversions with Google Tag Manager [Definitive Guide]

Just like Facebook and Twitter, Linkedin also offers their advertising pixel and conversion tracking. In terms of functionality, Facebook is way above its competition (and available resources) but if you’re still looking forward to using Linkedin ads and measuring their impact, this guide should give all the needed answers because I’ll teach you how to track LinkedIn conversions with Google Tag Manager.

Linkedin’s pixel is called Linkedin Insight tag which works as a remarketing code. You place it on all pages of your website and start receiving page views which can be later used as conversions. Also, you can fire additional tags to track events which are not related to particular URLs (form submissions, clicks, video views, etc.).

Linkedin Campaign Manager

You can access your Linkedin Campaign Manager account by expanding the drop-down menu of more Linkedin Products and clicking Advertise.

You will be greeted by this lady, let’s join her.

Chances are that the design of LinkedIn’s landing page will be different (you know, A/B testing and other stuff). Nevertheless, try to find the “Create ad” button and click it. Even if you already have an account, you still need to click that button (at least, I could not find the Login button/link).

After that, you will be asked to create an ad account. Since I already have one, I’ll choose it.

It’s been a while since I’ve created that account, therefore, your onboarding might look different. Nevertheless, follow all the instructions/guides that you see until you land on a Campaign Performance dashboard (or you can create a new campaign).

This guide will not go through the tactics how to create the most compelling ad or how to optimize its performance. This is a technical guide how to implement the general Linkedin Insight Tag + track conversions.

Linkedin Insight Tag

After you’ve logged in to the Linkedin Advertising account, look for Account Assets > Insight Tag.

On the right side, you’ll see the list of domains where you plan to implement the tag. Honestly, I haven’t tried to skip this part, therefore I’m not sure about the consequences. My advice here, just enter one or more domains and you’re good to go. They will be marked as verified once LinkedIn starts receiving some data from the tag placed on your website.

On the left side, is the tag itself. Don’t rush to copy it because we’ll need only a small part, partner_id.

Now, head over to Google Tag Manager, click Tags > New > Linkedin Insight Tag and paste the Partner ID. There are no other fields, so the last thing you’d need to do is to add a trigger All pages. If you wish to fire it only on specific pages, create a more targeted URL-based trigger.

With the help of GTM Preview and Debug Mode, don’t forget to test the entire implementation. Expected result: the insight tag should fire either on all pages (if you chose this trigger) or only on specific pages (based on a more targeted trigger).

If everything’s good, publish the container and let it start collecting new data. In the meantime, let’s implement conversion tracking.

Linkedin Pageview-based conversions (via site-wide insight tag)

There are two types of conversions on LinkedIn, Pageview-based and Event-based. Although the recommended way is to use the first option, it is pretty limited. Let’s have closer look.

In LinkedIn Campaign Manager, go to Account Assets > Conversion Tracking and create a new Conversion. A form will appear asking for more details, Conversion name, Conversion Type, etc.

From technical implementation’s perspective, the most important field here is Select conversion method. Which one should you choose?

Well, this depends on the way your website works and what are those important events that you wish to track.

Say, that you have a landing page with a form. When a visitor submits it, he/she is redirected to a thank you page (of which URL is, say, www.mywebsite.com/thank-you). In this case, choose a site-wide insight tag method because the important event (form submission) occurs when a visitor lands on a “thank-you” page.

Here, my friend, you won’t need Google Tag Manager anymore because you’ve already implemented the insight tag which tracks all the page views. Just skip to the last field of the Conversion form, URL, and enter all the URLs (page addresses) which are equal to completed conversions. Honestly, I haven’t tried to enter more than one URL, therefore I’m not sure whether these URLs are connected with AND or OR operator.

Unfortunately, Linkedin Insight Tag does not have a browser extension helper (like Twitter or Facebook do), so you’ll have to wait for the data to appear on the dashboard. It might take up to 48 hours, but usually, it’s processed faster.

But what should you do if the important event that you wish to track as a conversion is not tied to the specific URL? I’ll explain it in the next chapter of this blog post.

Linkedin Event-based conversions

There is an alternative way how to track events but it’s a bit tricky for less-experienced Google Tag Manager users or those who are using Facebook Pixel. In the form of new conversion, choose an Event-specific pixel conversion method and you’ll see a little piece of code.

Usually, Facebook Pixel users would copy this code and implement it as a Custom HTML tag in GTM. Twitter Pixel users would try to look for more settings in the Google Tag Manage LinkedIn Template, unfortunately, there are no more fields, just Partner ID.

Take a closer look at the event-specific pixel’s code and spot something similar to src=”https://dc.ads.linkedin.com/collect/?pid=xxxxx&conversionId=xxxxxxx&fmt=gif”. Copy that link and paste in Custom Image Tag’s Image URL field. Leave all the remaining fields as they are.

What kind of trigger should you assign to this tag? Well, it’s up to you. Here are several of ideas:

Finally, let’s test. Say, that you want to fire the Custom Image Tag when the form is submitted. First of all, open GTM Preview and Debug mode, then submit the form and check whether the Custom Image Tag was fired (it should be displayed in the Preview and Debug Console.

Chrome is the browser of my choice, therefore I’ll be using it in my screenshots. In the console (which appeared at the bottom of the screen), go to Network.

After you’ve opened the Network tab, refresh the page and try submitting the form again. In the search field, enter “linkedin” without quotation marks. If you see an item in the list and its status is 200, you’re good to go. 200 status stands for OK.

Conclusion: How To Track Linkedin Conversions with Google Tag Manager

That’s it! You’ve just learned two ways how to track LinkedIn conversions with Google Tag Manager:

Pageview-based

And Event-based

As for pageview-based conversions, all you need is a LinkedIn Insight Tag (use a built-in GTM tag template), paste Partner ID and fire it on all pages. After that, all conversions (conditions) are managed via Linkedin’s Advertising account.

If your conversions do not rely on unique URLs and occur when the page does not reload, choose an alternative, a pixel code. Copy its link and paste in the Custom Image Tag.

And don’t forget to test! Remember that the data in LinkedIn Ad account will not appear in real-time. Have some patience because it might take hours of waiting.

If you have any questions regarding how to track LinkedIn conversions with Google Tag Manager, let me know in the comments.

Julius Fedorovicius

In Google Tag Manager Tips

18 COMMENTS

The LinkedIn tag considerably slowed up our site and googling it I have found that it does for many others to, so I would strongly recommend speed testing before and after implementing the LinkedIn insight to see if it has any consequences.

- In the beginning op the article, you state: "Now, head over to Google Tag Manager, click Tags > New > Linkedin Insight Tag and paste the Partner ID. There are no other fields, so the last thing you’d need to do is to add a trigger All pages. If you wish to fire the Linkedin Insight Tag only on specific pages, create a more targeted URL-based trigger." When should I use All pages and when more specific pages? Can you give me an example?

- If I would like to choose Event-specific pixel, do I still need to fire the Linkedin Insight Tag on all (or some) pages? Or is using the Custom Image Tag enough?

1. Usually, you should always choose All pages. Linkedin Insight tag is a pageview-based pixel which should be fired on every page and then you should build audiences/conversions based on particular pageviews. But if you are concerned about the loading speed of a website, you might want to fire the insight tag only on those pages that are important to you. In that case, you might choose to fire only on some pages. The 2nd option isn't too bad, actually, because Linkedin Insight Tag isn't too optimal and slows your page down.
2. Custom Image Tag is enough.

Fantastic post, Julius. I was just wondering if you would recommend one method over the other? We do have thank you pages setup, however, I like the added benefit of having all my tracking in one place in GTM.

Knowing this are you at all concerned with the GTM route in terms of accuracy of tracking? I will definitely test to make sure everything works but I just wanted to get your thoughts.

Thanks - great post!
Followed the guidelines and created an Event Based conversion. Debugging shows good results, and also I can see the conversions appear live on LinkedIn Conversions section. However, checking with the developer tools mode, I see lots of successful events but neither with Linkedin in the name (or linked). What does it mean? How can this be resolved?

Hi Julius, great post, really useful. One question.
We are trying to catch users who saw or clicked on our linkedin ads and then filled out any of our contact us forms on the site. If we implement the Event Based conversion on the form submit, how does linkedin know that the user came from linkedin versus now counting all conversions in the form/s. Is this even possible?